December 2010
8 posts
WatchGregoire talks about “irrational choices,” budget impacts and Tim Eyman
After the governor’s press conference unveiling her 2011-2013 budget, we talked with her about how she reached her decisions. Among her points:
—She took tax increases off the table, saying she understood the strong anti-tax message from voters in last month’s election.
—She fully...
Retirees ready to fight Gregoire's proposed...
An announcement from Governor Christine Gregoire today, surprised some retired state employees and teachers.
Gregoire is unveiling her two-year budget this week and announced today, that as part of that budget, she is proposing eliminating automatic benefit increases for some retired employees.
Two of the state’s oldest retirement plans, PERS 1 and TRS 1, are considered...
WatchState printer: Try back in six months.
Little known to most residents, the state of Washington has its own printer with a large facility in Tumwater. And some lawmakers aren’t sure why.
“Do we need a department of printing, or a division of printing in the state of Washington? I don’t think we do,” said Rep. Gary Alexander, R-Olympia.
The idea of a centralized print shop...
Gregoire: Special session Saturday
Governor Christine Gregoire says a special session of the Washington State legislature will be called on Saturday to deal with a deficit in the current 2009-2011 budget.
Gregoire had urged lawmakers to come back to Olympia and asked legislative leaders to pick a date. Saturday made sense because many lawmakers are already in town this week for committee work.
By law, the state must run a...
Governor to legislature: You pick the date
Governor Christine Gregoire says she is going to call a special session but she’s leaving it up to legislative leaders to pick a specific date.
Gov. Gregoire is hoping to use a special session to fix a deficit in the current budget which ends in june 2011. The governor has already made across the board cuts of about $500 million, but still needs to cut at least another $500 million.
...
Republican wins race by 30 votes; other recounts...
Recounts in three very close legislative races have been completed, and the Secretary of State’s office reports that Republicans have held on to victories in three seats.
In the Puyallup area, 25-year-old blogger Republican Hans Zeiger has defeated Democratic incumbent Dawn Morrell, a nurse, grandmother and Democratic caucus chair. The recount yielded an additional 17 votes for Morrell,...
WatchState budget cuts may affect poor school districts the most
Seventh-grade teacher Adrienne McKay knows that the state’s budget problems will somehow affect her classroom—-she just doesn’t know how.
“We worry about it, as far as our jobs,” McKay says.
State budget director Marty Brown warns that the budget ax is about to fall. “We’re going to be talking about levy equalization,...
No word yet on special session
Governor Christine Gregoire met with state senate and house leaders this afternoon, but the governor’s office told KING 5’s Drew Mikkelsen that there’s no decision yet on whether to call a special session.
The governor’s spokesperson said the meeting was “positive and productive,” and that there may be another meeting on Thursday.
At issue is the...